I'm almost too embarrassed to ask this question. I'm a newbie so please forgive my ignorance. I have my 9630 all set up and have the Desktop Manager running. Is there not an application on the desktop that will allow me to input data and change contacts? Say I want to add a phone number or edit a contact, can I only do it via the BB? I've got to be missing something. Please help.

Most people use Outlook and then the built in Intellisync in Desktop Manager to edit their contacts, calendar, notes and tasks.

There is no feature within Desktop Manager to edit that data.

I guess that is what my problem is. I am not using Outlook. Is there any other application that can be used? Even if it's a third party paid program? I have looked at Rexwireless but that too seems to be only BB based.

I understand your confusion. Let me explain. There is email...and then there are email clients that service your email on your computer/desktop. For example you may have a work email or gmail or yahoo or aol email provider. You have to login to that provider and access your emails on the web or on your company's server. But if you want to manage your emails, contacts, calendar on your computer you use an email client like Outlook or Entourage (for Mac). Google has gotten really good with their Gmail which provides most of the same features as Outlook and Entourage but it's web-based and it's FREE. So you can easily access your email, contacts, calendar from any computer.

So NJBlackBerry is right, you would access calendar and contact info inside of one of these programs. Your desktop manager acts like a liaison or go-between between your BB and your email client.

I understand your confusion. Let me explain. There is email...and then there are email clients that service your email on your computer/desktop. For example you may have a work email or gmail or yahoo or aol email provider. You have to login to that provider and access your emails on the web or on your company's server. But if you want to manage your emails, contacts, calendar on your computer you use an email client like Outlook or Entourage (for Mac). Google has gotten really good with their Gmail which provides most of the same features as Outlook and Entourage but it's web-based and it's FREE. So you can easily access your email, contacts, calendar from any computer.

So NJBlackBerry is right, you would access calendar and contact info inside of one of these programs. Your desktop manager acts like a liaison or go-between between your BB and your email client.

Still a little fuzzy but I think I'm getting a grasp of it. I currently am using Pegasus Mail as my client and have been for the last 14 years. (I'm a little slow to change.)
So what you're saying is that in order to fully utilize the BB contacts, I need something similar to Outlook or Gmail. One of the things I didn't really want was a web based program like Gmail.

Understood. But web-based has come a looong way from the old aol and msn.com web-based emails. Well...At least for Gmail it has.

What you can do to ease your way into Gmail is open a free acct and pull mail from your Pegasus acct into Gmail (go to: settings>accounts). This way you can access the same mail from Pagasus and Gmail. You can also send mail from your Gmail acct using your Pegasus name (ie. ). This feature is located in the same place as above. So when folks get email from you, it still shows your old address whether you're sending the email from Pagasus or Gmail.

I use Macs and PCs so I'm all over the place using a combination of Gmail, Outlook and Entourage. My contacts are in all three places. I'm not as familiar with syncing Gmail to the BB through the desktop manager because I use Outlook and Entourage, however there are A LOT of folks on this board who do, so just do a search or ask a question if you decide to go that route.

I have been using GMail and the Google Calendar/Contacts with my smartphones for a long time now.

I love it.

The over the air syncing is fabulous.

I used to use Outlook but had to sync my phone via USB or Bluetooth. It was a huge PITA.

For those people that don't have access to an Exchange Server I think Google is the way to go. You never have to worry about having your stuff backed up should your phone ever crash. Get a new phone, setup the accounts and BOOM all your stuff is right there again just like before.

I have been using GMail and the Google Calendar/Contacts with my smartphones for a long time now.

I love it.

The over the air syncing is fabulous.

I used to use Outlook but had to sync my phone via USB or Bluetooth. It was a huge PITA.

For those people that don't have access to an Exchange Server I think Google is the way to go. You never have to worry about having your stuff backed up should your phone ever crash. Get a new phone, setup the accounts and BOOM all your stuff is right there again just like before.

I have a real problem with having my information on a webmail account especially one from a company like Google that is notorious for "sharing" information.
I see I'm not alone:

Quote:

daphne: ...I would not use webmail for anything that I wanted to be private either.

I have a real problem with having my information on a webmail account especially one from a company like Google that is notorious for "sharing" information.
I see I'm not alone:

Nope, you are not alone. Gmail has had security holes in addition to privacy concerns. I use Gmail for news alerts and that's it. Same with Yahoo. For everything else I use my ISP email address and my domain email address.

There are no privacy concerns with GMail. They tell you upfront in the End User License that they are going to read your e-mail. Google's sole purpose is to collect information about you. That should be very clear to everyone.